Should Florida allow oil and gas drilling in their offshore waters? It could bring in a lot of revenue but it could also have an environmental impact. How much money and how much impact are key questions.
This image shows estimates of rainfall for the southeastern United States from September 14–21 produced by the near-real-time, multi-satellite precipitation analysis at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The highest rainfall amounts—more than 300 millimeters —appear in blue. The lightest amounts appear in pale green. Especially intense rainfall occurred in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and northern Florida. Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
There is not a single wind farm in Florida, however, FPL Group, a power company with a primary business of providing electricity to Florida homes and businesses, now operates wind power stations at 65 locations in 16 states and Canada.
National Geographic reports that Africa’s largest snake, the African rock python is reproducing in the wild in Florida. This is a 20-foot-long ill-tempered snake.
The Florida Geological Survey has a lot of information on their website about sinkholes and subsidence. They have technical and nontechnical publications, a sinkhole database, consumer information and the “Florida’s Sinkholes” poster shown at right. You can view the poster online as a .pdf document. It has a sinkhole incidence map, sinkhole hazards map, cross-sections of sinkhole development, sinkhole photos and much more. If you are buying real estate in Florida it is a good idea to know about subsidence because subsidence problems are often not covered by homeowner’s insurance.
The 2009 hurricane season is off to a slow start but Tropical Storm Claudette is about to be the first storm that makes landfall in the United States – near the Florida-Alabama border. From the National Hurricane Center…
“A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THE ALABAMA/FLORIDA BORDER EASTWARD TO THE SUWANNEE RIVER FLORIDA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN 24 HOURS.”
Dangerous pythons up to 200 pounds in weight and 12 feet in length are not uncommon in Florida since a reptile farm was damaged during Hurricane Andrew. One expert estimates that over 100,000 pythons are now crawling around the southern portion of the state.
Stormwater runoff and sewage contaminate many US beaches. A study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council sampled, tested and rated 200 of the most popular beaches in the United States – both ocean and freshwater beaches were included in the study. Some of them had consistently high water quality and some had consistently low. You can view the report and a listing of the beaches on their website.
The Gulf Stream is the most powerful ocean current on Earth, and has potential as an energy source. Turbines placed underwater could convert the current into energy for millions of people in Florida.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program released a report that explains how climate change might impact Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Stronger hurricanes, drought, heat waves and crop losses are a few of the featured problems.
USGS published: Water Quality and Evaluation of Pesticides in Lakes in the Ridge Citrus Region of Central Florida. This report presents the results of a water sampling program of lakes in the citrus growing part of the state.
“Consistent detections of parents and degradates in quarterly samples indicated the presence of pesticide compounds in the lakes many months or years after their application, signaling the persistence of some pesticide compounds in the lakes and/or ground-water systems.”
NASA produced a map that shows the areas on Earth that have the highest frequency of lightning. You might be surprised when you learn about the areas that experience the most lightning.
Learn about the geology of your favorite state as seen along the highway. This series of books by Mountain Press are filled with maps, photos, park locations and detailed descriptions. Get one before your next trip.
The US Navy scuttled a retired ship, the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary about seven miles south of Key West. The goal was to make what could become the world’s second largest artificial coral reef. The goal is to produce habitat, diving opportunities and a fishing destination.
The-Vug.com has a comprehensive listing of mineral and lapidary clubs from across the United States. It could be the most complete and up-to-date listing on the web. Included are hundreds of clubs and organizations located in all 50 states.
“Heavy rain began to fall over northern Brazil in early April 2009, and persisted for several weeks, causing the most severe flooding in more than two decades. This image shows the unusually heavy rainfall the Intertropical Convergence Zone brought to northern Brazil.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory release.
Huge pythons are being sighted more and more in southern Florida. These are not native snakes but pets that have been released and grown up in the wild. They have become abundant enough that police, wildlife officers and others are attending classes on how to deal with them.
The U.S. Drought Monitor website has a map showing current drought conditions across the United States and a photo gallery documenting drought conditions in several states.
“The solar jobs map was created through a collaboration between SEREF, Google, and Navigant Consulting Inc. The map was designed to serve as a tool to help users visualize and understand how current, supportive government policies for solar energy are expected to generate more than 440,000 green jobs and tens of thousands of megawatts of clean energy across the nation by the year 2016.” Quoted from SEREF’s website.
NASA’s Earth Observatory has released a satellite image of the Great Bahama Bank. This image clearly shows the shallow platform of the Bank in contrast to the deep surrounding waters. This is one of Earth’s classic carbonate environments.
An article in the Palm Beach Post explains that State Farm stopped accepting new customers for homeowners insurance in Florida last year. Now their response to an unapproved rate increase is to drop hundreds of thousands of existing policy holders in areas with the highest hurricane risk.
A bill that will require the petroleum industry to sell cleaner fuels is on the agenda for lawmakers in Minnesota. California already has a low carbon fuel policy. Minnesota, Massachusetts and Florida may see one this year.
Three Florida counties (Hardee, Lee and Sarasota) spent about $16,000,000 in legal fees over a disputed Mosaic Company phosphate mining permit adjacent to the Peace River. A judge dismissed the claims of Lee and Sarasota Counties because they were “unfounded”.
Mosaic Company is the world’s largest producer of phosphate with numerous mines in Florida. A lower demand for phosphate, mainly by farmers growing corn for ethanol production, has depressed the price. Mosaic is cutting production to match the demand.
Associated Press Video of Hurricane Ike hitting the Caribbean. They report that 3/4 of the homes in Turks and Caicos were damaged and give a forecast of what the US might expect.
Emergency management officials in Florida have order the evacuation of the Florida Keys. Access to and from the Keys by car is limited to US Route 1 which bridges from island to island. The evaculation was ordered on Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center says that “Ike is an extremely dangerous category four hurricane” with maximum sustained winds of 135 miles per hour. Some weakening is forcast over the next 24 to 48 hours as it moves towards the Bahamas and south Florida.
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